Teach Me to Trust
by Sale and Evans INC
Summary: She ran because she couldn't take it anymore. He found her, but will he ever teach her to believe in anyone again, or find out what's haunting her past. And will they manage to save Narnia from a hidden threat from inside its own borders?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my first try at writing properly. I think Jen mentioned that there were two of us under this name, so I'm the other one. AJS**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything etc. I am just slightly obsessed**

**Teach me to Trust: Prologue**

She was running. Running far and fast. She didn't know where, and she didn't care either. She just knew she had to keep running, to get away from Him. She couldn't let Him catch her, she'd kill him. It had happened before. That's why she wouldn't fight. She couldn't She'd promised herself last time that she'd never fight to defend herself again. She didn't want to be a murderer. Again.

So she ran, and ran, her breath rasping in her throat until suddenly, the scene changed. She was in a wood. A wood that didn't belong in London. She knew instinctively that she wasn't in England anymore. She crouched down and caught her breath.

"Safe" she breathed, before slipping into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author' Note: Ok, so a bit of well, fantasy? As in, more so than you might expect, so be warned- if you aren't big on people having "special powers," well, don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters places etc. Not even those which come out of my own head. They own me!**

Dannie woke up abruptly when she felt a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes and saw a boys face bent over her, brow creased in puzzlement and concern. She jumped up, panic instincts kicking in and before she'd even registered that she wasn't being threatened she was on her feet, the boy was sitting in a bush, where she'd pushed him, and she had one of her knives in her hand. Then, as she regained control of herself, she registered the fact that the boy she'd just thrown to the ground was feeling no hostility. A little mistrust perhaps, after all, she'd just attacked him for no apparent reason, but mainly he was feeling concern and a little bit of admiration and amusement. And pain. But that was understandable… Her thoughts trailed off. He was in no pain, it was emotional. Somewhere in the past, someone had hurt him badly. Just like her. But that didn't mean she trusted him. Because she knew that feelings change, and just because he wasn't a threat to her now, didn't mean he wouldn't be in the future. She knew that better than anyone.

The thing is, she understood feelings. She was what conspiracy theorists called an 'Empath.' She felt other peoples' emotions. A mixed blessing. It gave her a pre-warning of threats, but meant she always had to deal with other peoples' pain. The warning of danger meant she could run instead of fight. Half the time she ran even when there was no threat. She couldn't get hurt that way. If she didn't make friends then they couldn't betray her. That had happened too often before for her to risk it happening again. So, she was about to run, when she realised she was surrounded. By dwarves, satyrs, a couple of fauns, and a centaur, who appeared to be in charge of the group. The boy was obviously important if he had to take a guard around with him. She felt a flicker of fear, which showed on her face momentarily, before she took a deep breath and composed herself. She turned to face the boy, who had joined the circle.

XXXXXXXX

Edmund raised his eyebrows at the strange girl. He was impressed, both by her managing to knock him over- not many could do that- but also by her composure. Not many people he knew would be able to react so calmly if put in her situation- lost, afraid, and surrounded by strangers. And yet, despite her obvious fear, all she did was stare at him, challenging him to go near her. He found himself smiling at her sheer bravery.

"Who are you?" He asked, stepping forward and reaching for her hand. She jerked back, her expression slipping into one of terror.

"What do you want with me?" She asked, her voice a whisper.

"Nothing," Ed replied, stepping back. "Don't worry, no-one wants to hurt you. We just need to know who you are. Will you tell us?"

The girl took a deep breath.

"My name is Danielle Lepton. I'm from London, Only, we aren't in England anymore are we? In fact, I don't think we're even on Earth. So, who are you?"

Edmund looked at the girl, Danielle, with new respect. E wanted to ask her more about England- how the war was going, and if she knew anything about his family, but figured this might have to wait for a time when she'd maybe relaxed slightly, and was less tired. He drew breath to answer her question, but got no further than "I…" before he was interrupted by his guard captain.

"You address His Majesty King Edmund Pevensie, The Just King of Narnia…"

"Who prefers to be known as Ed." Edmund interrupted his captain, rolling his eyes. He should have expected that really, and would have to apologise to his captain later. But, to be honest, Danielle looked like she was about to collapse, and could probably do without the rest of his titles, and any demands of respect his captain might see fit to come up with. Centaurs were big on respect. The girl swayed on the spot and he moved forward in time to catch her as she fell- fatigue and shock catching up with her- noticing as he did so, that she was really very pretty. He checked that thought. Right now he needed to be focusing on her health and not her looks.

"We'll take her with us, back to Cair Paravel. No, don't try and argue," he added, with an expression that reminded his guard, that while the King might be friendly by nature, he was still the most formidable fighter, and person in fact, in the whole of Narnia, and that it was never a good idea to argue with him. So, none of them said a word as the King lifted Danielle onto his horse, and climbed up behind her. In silence, they set off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Anything from my own head owns me.**

Dannie, for the second time that day, woke up to find herself surrounded by people she didn't know. She realised that she was on a horse, and that the boy, King Edmund of she-couldn't-remember-the-rest, was sat behind her, arms around her, keeping her upright at the same time as controlling the horse. Her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, and she sat bolt upright. She felt the boy tense, obviously expecting her to try and make a break for it. Well, there was no point in trying to change a habit that had helped protect her more times than she could count. She grabbed the boy's arm, intending to twist it upwards and escape underneath, but quickly realised she would have to rethink. This King, was obviously trained as a warrior, as he just didn't budge, despite the fact that she'd used nearly all her strength trying to make him move. Strong then. He reigned in the horse, which Dannie guessed was to make it easier to keep her in place. She could hear him trying to talk to her, but she wasn't listening, she didn't even register the emotions she could feel: concern, confusion, but no threat. She just knew she had to get away. As a last resort she threw her entire body weight against the boy's arm, and he had to move, or risk a broken arm. She tumbled off the horse, but was back on her feet in a moment, running before anyone had really registered what was happening. She heard cursing behind her, and the guards making to follow her, before a sharp command from the boy stopped them. For a moment, she thought they'd leave her be, that she'd escaped, but then she heard the footsteps. Only one set, but they were following her, she was still being chased. She began to panic, as her mind took her back to the day before. A hand caught the back of her top, and she screamed, thinking it was Him, that she'd never escaped, that He'd just been biding her time until she thought she was safe, making her re-capture worse. A hand covered her mouth, and she bit down on reflex. Then she heard a voice she vaguely recognised.

"Danielle, Danielle…"

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Edmund swore as Danielle flung herself off his horse and ran for the woods. She was headed in the direction of the Dalian camp/border. If they caught her, she'd be imprisoned and tortured as a Narnian spy, maybe even executed. _Or worse_ he thought grimly, reflecting on the fact that she was rather pretty.

"Holy…" he broke off when his guard looked at him. "I have to find her." The guards set off.

"No!" he shouted. "Stay where you are. She's already frightened enough." He jumped off his horse and started to follow the girl, not even sure himself why he cared so much.

"Stay there!" He yelled at the guards, who'd begun to follow him anyway. This time, they listened. He plunged into the woods, easily following the girl's tracks- she was terrified, she'd hardly be trying too hard to be careful, she just wanted to get away. He caught up with her fairly quickly. She appeared to have heard him, as she sped up to try and stay ahead. She might have managed it as well, if she hadn't been in shock, and wiped out by fatigue. He caught the back of her top, and hissed in surprise when he saw the scarring and bruises on her back. Then she screamed, the sound so desperate that he almost let go of her, just to get her to be quiet, to let her calm down. That wasn't an option, however, as she'd run again, and be back in danger. He covered her mouth with his hand, and kept it there, even when she bit him.

"Danielle, Danielle!" He yelled. "Calm down, please! You'll put us both in danger if you aren't quiet." He relaxed his hold on her mouth, as she stopped screaming.

"Calm down," he whispered. "No-one's going to hurt you." Just as he said this, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked down and swore badly. He'd been hit by an arrow.

"Run." He told Danielle, in the tone of someone used to being obeyed. "Get out of here." Having first hand experience of the sharpness of her survival instinct, he expected her to do as he said. However, her response was not what he expected.

"I'm tired of running."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing etc. I just have plot bunny issues, and a minor obsession.**

**Author's Note: Umm, again if you aren't a fan of the whole "special powers" thing, don't say I didn't warn you. It's nothing dramatic, but...**

Dannie had calmed down the minute the arrow had hit Edmund. His sudden shock had penetrated the panic clouding her mind, and she'd realised that he really wasn't the threat. For the moment at least. However, she couldn't say the same for the men who were beginning to surround them.

"I'm tired of running." She said- and she meant it.

"There are twenty of them. They don't know exactly where we are, but they've got a good idea. It was a scout who got you. He hit you by chance, aiming in the direction of my scream. Sorry about that by the way," she added, gesturing at his bitten hand. "I panicked. Some habits are hard to break." She looked away from the boy wondering why she'd said that. He couldn't know anything about her, she was safer that way. She couldn't get to know him. She'd only get hurt.

"I'd noticed," Edmund replied, and she looked back at him, almost smiling despite herself.

"Anyway, as I was saying, they don't know exactly where we are, but if we don't move fast they'll have us surrounded. And let me look at that." Danielle walked over to Edmund, and looked at his injured shoulder.

"This is going to hurt," she warned him, before pulling the arrow out with one sharp tug. Luckily it wasn't barbed. All the same, she was impressed when the boy didn't even gasp. Strong then. She covered the wound with her hands. They seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then, when she moved them, the wound had disappeared. There wasn't even a scar. She cursed herself when she realised that she'd just let out another secret. Now they'd never want to let her go, they'd try and keep her, just like everyone else. The king gaped at her. Before he could say anything however, Danielle asked:

"So, what do we do now? You know the area."

Now, my lady?" Danielle raised her eyebrows at the sudden change in status, "Now, we run."

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Edmund was amazed. In fact, if it wasn't so important that they kept moving, he probably would have fallen over. As it was, he didn't have that option. They had to get back to the guards, and quickly. He was worried for Danielle, as he wasn't convinced she'd be very good in a fight. Again he wondered why he cared so much and decided it was probably because he felt responsible for her. At least, that was what he was going to keep telling himself. He really didn't need to be protecting her in a fight, against such odds. Twenty to one was a bit much, even for his talents. He would protect her though, he owed her that much for his shoulder. And no way was he letting the Dalians' get hold of her. He could hear them, close behind. They'd catch up before he and Danielle reached safety. They'd have to stop. He'd have to make a fight for it. No way was he going to risk getting captured or killed running away. He'd let the whole of Narnia down. He had to make a fight for it.

"Lady Danielle, get behind me. We're going to have to make a fight of it. Umm… I think I've got a spare knife somewhere you can borrow, but I'd rather you didn't…" He trailed off as Danielle rolled her eyes at him, and pulled two blades from sheaths at the inside of her calves.

"I can fight. I just prefer not to, given the choice. You need my help, so I will, but don't expect me to fight for myself. I can't risk that. There's a good chance you'd be dead by now if I did. Or unconscious at best."

Edmund raised his eyebrows at this. He was considered to be possibly the best fighter in Narnia, so he was slightly cynical at this claim. However, he wasn't going to argue. If she was as adept a fighter as she was a healer, he didn't really want to test her theory. Either way, it was nice to know he wasn't alone in the fight. He drew his sword, then suddenly grinned at Danielle.

"Well, my lady. Whatever happens now, it's certainly been an… experience meeting you." He reached for her hand but quickly drew back when she flinched away, the haunted, cornered look returning to her eyes. Obviously she still didn't trust him. He wondered how she'd gotten all her scars. He wondered what had happened to her to make her so afraid. And he hoped that one day he'd get to meet the person who'd hurt her so much.

So they could learn how it felt.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters places etc.**

**Author's Note: I'm not brilliant at fight scenes, so bear with me...**

Dannie flinched back as the king reached for her hand. She relaxed only slightly when he drew back frowning. She decided that, she didn't want to be the person he was thinking about at that moment. Whoever it was, she didn't fancy their chances. The look in his eyes was dangerous. She nodded briefly at him.

"Thank you," she whispered, but had no time to elaborate on this, despite his confused look, because at that moment, the Dalians' caught up with them. Dannie counted to three, then threw one of her knives at the front runner. It hit him in the throat and he fell back. She threw her other knife at an archer, who was aiming at Edmund. He fell, and she grabbed her next pair of blades from sheaths on the inside of her thighs. She risked a quick glance at the king, who'd brought down one opponent, and started on the next. He was good. However, she had no time to dwell on this because one of the Dalians came for her. She snapped one of her blades up to block his sword stroke, then got him with a straight legged kick to the chest. He fell, dead or unconscious, she didn't have time to find out which. She turned to the next man and kicked him between the legs before knifing him in the throat. Dirty tactics, but she was outnumbered. Looking around she saw another archer aiming at Edmund. She hurled another knife, and he fell. She looked around again. They were doing well. She'd taken out five, and the king four. No, make that five, she thought, when he decapitated his next opponent. However, they were still outnumbered, and she didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. She could sense reinforcements heading their way, about thirty or so, she reckoned. Another swordsman headed for her, and she jumped, deflecting his sword thrust, and knocking him out with the hilt of her knife. She felt another one come up behind her, but before she could turn round, he was dropped by and arrow. She he sighed with relief as Edmund's guards ran into the fray.

Gradually, the fight evened out. The next few minutes were a blur, as with so many fighting, she had difficulty concentrating properly. She didn't know how many she killed, but all of a sudden the fight was over. She took a deep breath and tried to shut off the empathy thing, as she called it. It was too painful after a battle, what with so many injured, dead or dying. As a distraction, she went in search of the blades she'd lost. During the fight, she'd managed to get rid of the ones from her calves, thighs, hips, and the tops of her arms. She still held the ones from the inside of her wrists though. A busy fight then. After she'd gathered up her weaponry, she turned to check if any of their side was seriously wounded. She sifted through the mass of emotions in her head, and deciphered from it, that, aside from cuts, bruises, and one death, they'd fared pretty well.

She sensed Edmund walking up behind her, and said

"I'm fine." Turning round she saw the confused expression on his face, and realised that she shouldn't have even known he was there yet, let alone what he wanted. She'd responded to his emotions, not his actual words. Another secret lost then.

"Sorry, I felt your… concern, and responded to that." She realised she was going to have to explain the whole thing, or he'd have her down as a witch. And then she'd never be allowed to leave. "I'm an Empath. I feel emotions. That's how I knew the men were coming. I felt their anger, and eagerness to capture you." They'd wanted her as well, but not until they saw her. She had that affect on people. In fact, the king of this strange country, was probably the only guy she'd met in a long time, who she hadn't immediately perceived as a threat. But she still couldn't risk starting to like him. Let alone trust him. But he did have to no that they weren't out of the water yet. A couple of the Dalians had escaped, and gone to get help. They needed to go. And fast.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Edmund was worried. He didn't know how much longer he and Danielle could hold out. He decapitated his fifth opponent. At least he thought it was his fifth. Then he heard shouts coming from behind him. His soldiers had come to find them. Soon after, the fight was over. He thanked his guard, paid his respects to the dead satyr, then looked for Danielle. He spotted her with her back to them, apparently thinking or searching for something. He walked over to her.

"I'm fine." she said, before he'd even reached her. He frowned. How had she known he was coming? Was she psychic?

"Sorry, I felt your… concern, and responded to that." He must have looked confused because she added "I'm an Empath. I feel emotions. That's how I knew the men were coming. I felt their anger, and eagerness to capture you." Edmund blinked at her. A healer _and_ an Empath.

"Okay." he said, diplomacy training enabling him to remain calm. "Anything else I should know?"

"Yes. A couple of the fighters escaped. They've gone to fetch reinforcements. Apparently, you're too good a prize to miss out on."

"Damn and blast it," Edmund hissed. He turned to the guards. Back to the horses. Now." His tone was such that not one of them tried to argue.

"Lady Danielle, will you consent to ride with me?" He noticed the uncertainty in her eyes as she nodded. She really had trust issues. They ran for the horses. Edmund vaulted onto his horse's back and turned to pull Danielle up behind him. After making sure that all the guard were with them, he spurred his horse on, and they set off at a gallop. It wasn't long before he felt Danielle tense behind him.

"They're coming. The horse are fresh and they have bowmen. If we're going to make it out of this, we'd better reach safety quickly."

Edmund decided that this empathy thing could be quite useful.

"Can you tell how many there are?" he asked, hoping there were no more than about thirty.

"Umm, it's difficult to tell. There are enough that their minds blur together enough that I can't count them, so probably more than fifty."

Edmund swore. Badly. Then he remembered that Danielle was a lady, and apologised.

"Don't worry about it. I've heard and said worse"

"But you're a girl." he protested. "Girls' don't swear."

"They do where I come from." A few seconds later, she proved he point.

"Oh bloody hell!" She pushed Edmund's head down as an arrow flew over the top of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I**** own none of the characters etc. Except Dannie, but I fear that that may be the other way round...**

**Authors note: So this is going to be about as extreme as it gets, fantasy wise. This is a slightly longer chapter. Oh, and could people please let me know if they want better character descriptions. I will aim to get one of Dannie next chapter! No promises though, this thing writes itself.**

Dannie shoved Edmund's head down and swore again.

"They've caught us," she told him, admittedly unnecessarily. "We need to get to the back." He turned and gave her a quizzical look. "If we're at the back, I can help anyone who needs it."

Edmund slowed the horse slightly, and they dropped back. Dannie closed her eyes, and concentrated for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she could feel a slight tingling in, and see a familiar shimmering on, her hands. The feeling spread over her entire body. Feeling the power coming from her, Edmund turned to look at her, and nearly fell off the horse. Her whole body was shimmering slightly, almost blurring. It was strange, but at the same time beautiful.

"Ignore me, and keep behind everyone." Dannie ordered him, taking a deep breath. At that moment, one of the guards- a faun- was hit. They fell to the back of the group, but as they passed Dannie, she flexed her arms slightly, and the faun realised that the wound had disappeared. He gaped at Dannie for a moment, and surprisingly she smiled in response, feeling his gratitude towards her replace the wariness he- and all the other guards- had felt before. Mind you, she still had the others to convince yet. Her smile transformed her face. She was beautiful anyway, but when she smiled, she had been described as "breathtaking." That was partly why she didn't smile very often. She attracted less attention that way. And from past experience, she'd found that smiling only got her hurt.

As they fled, more of the guards got hit, and were healed. However, Dannie could feel her strength fading, and knew she could not keep this up for much longer. She leaned forward towards Edmund and said:

"We have to hurry. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold this for." As she said this, she gasped in pain. One of the arrows had hit her. Her concentration wavered for a moment, but she kept the healing haze up. Just. One of the disappointments to this trick was that it didn't allow her to heal herself. "I'm fine," she said in response to Edmund's enquiring glance. He hadn't seen the arrow, and didn't need to know about it for the moment.

"We're nearly there. It's just round this corner. You won't have to keep that up for much longer." They turned said corner, and Dannie stared in amazement at the castle up ahead of them. It was stunning. The walls were an almost blue, grey colour, and it was set on a cliff, overlooking the sea. The town that surrounded it was no less lovely, being clean and quaint. There was a gate up ahead of them, and Dannie could see more guards running out of it towards them. She felt the Dalians' retreat, felt their disappointment, but still she kept the healing haze up until they went through the gate and it closed behind them. Only then did she relax. They headed through the city towards the castle. Dannie was too exhausted to do anything other than memorise the route they came by- that way, she'd be able to escape more easily. Her shoulder was killing her where the arrow had hit her, but she still didn't say anything, Anyway, she'd felt worse. They reached the courtyard and Edmund jumped down from the horse and turned to her.

"How the… What the…" Then he saw the arrow. His eyes flashed with anger. It wasn't aimed at her, but she flinched away despite herself. "Why the hell didn't you mention that before?" He exploded. "You could have killed yourself. You said that… that… whatever it was, tired you out. So, _why_ keep it up when you should have been resting?" He helped her off the horse, and held her upright. She glared at him.

"I kept it up because I had to. Do you know how many we'd have lost if I hadn't? Ten. So don't you lecture me. My life's worth nothing compared to that. They've all got people who will miss them, me, I've got nobody. So you can cut the crap about me risking my life. It's mine to risk. No-one would miss it if I lost it. I've never meant anything to anyone. But they have. So I had no choice. I couldn't let them die, anymore than I could have let this arrow hit you, like it was meant to."

She spat this at Edmund, anger taking over her usual reserved nature. How would he know what it was like to feel their pain, to feel their panic about what would happen to their families if they died? He couldn't understand why she'd done it because he couldn't feel what she felt. He couldn't see how much more important they were than she was. She looked at him, eyes blazing, face pale. She knew she shouldn't be this angry, but she'd spent almost all her life bottling things up. This had just taken that too far. Ironic really. The thing that had tipped her over the edge was someone caring for her, for the first time in her memory, when she'd always been able to keep in the anger caused by the insults and the pain before. She guessed that it was because she didn't want anyone caring for her. She'd have their pain to deal with, as well as her own when she left.

"What do you mean 'let that arrow hit me'?" said Edmund, more quietly this time.

"I felt it coming and moved so it got my shoulder, instead of your neck. I wasn't going to let you die on me was I? You're a king here. What would happen if you died, because you'd decided to try and help some strange girl who's problems with life lead you into trouble in the first place. I got you into that situation, I had to get you out. That was the other reason I wouldn't stop. It was my fault, so it was my responsibility to do whatever I could to help, no matter what the cost to me." Her voice was soft, matter of fact. "Now, can we go somewhere I can get this sorted out? Unfortunately, the only person I've found yet with a healing immunity so far is me, so I'm gonna have to sort this out the old fashioned way." Edmund gave her an odd look, before leading her towards the infirmary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Edmund was furious. Mostly with the Dalians' but partly with himself, for allowing his anger at them to affect his treatment of Danielle. He escorted her to the infirmary, and then, after checking that she'd be alright, and that she was comfortable, he headed to find his family. They were in a small ante-chamber behind the throne room, and all stared at him in shock. He hadn't been expected until the following day, and the fact that he was sweating, dirty and covered in blood didn't help their confusion. Briefly he explained what had happened. Peter's initial response was to demand to see Danielle immediately, both to thank her for saving his brother, and kill her for getting him into danger in the first place. However, he was deterred from this course of action, both by the look Edmund gave him, and Susan and Lucy's threats to sit on him until he calmed down if he moved one more step. Having been on the receiving end of this treatment before, he knew what it entailed, and frankly, it wasn't something he wanted to experience again. Edmund smiled. He and his brother were as alike in character as they were in appearance. He had dark hair, dark eyes and freckles, was lean but strong, and was said to be dangerous looking, while his brother was blonde, had no freckles, was classically handsome, and sturdily built. They were the same height, and had a similar shaped nose, but that was about it. In the same way, while he was calm, cautious and slow-tempered, albeit dangerous, and sometimes a little frightening, Peter was hot-headed, often too quick to react, and rarely thought before acting, although admittedly, he was also dangerous, and threatening, when the mood took him. He was a perfect High King, as long as the others were there to slow him down sometimes.

"So, you say this girl comes from London Ed?" Lucy asked him excitedly. "Did she say how the war was going?" She bounced over to him, and tugged him into a chair.

"That's the thing. She doesn't look like she comes from our London at all. She doesn't sound like it either." He smirked at this, thinking back to the earlier swearing incident, and wondering what his sisters' would have thought of that. "She dresses strangely, and actually swore. Badly. I mean, how many girls from our London do you know who do that."

"A few actually," said Susan. "We just don't when boys are around. It seems to offend them somewhat." She snorted at Edmund and Peter's expressions. "You don't need to look so surprised. We are human you know. Just a little more refined."

"That's not all though." Edmund said, recovering from his shock. "She just doesn't seem to fit. We need to ask her, but I don't know if she'll tell us. She doesn't trust me I don't think. I don't think she really trusts anyone. Something's happened to her. I think it would be better if the girls did the asking. Every time I go near her she flinches, and the look in her eyes is… haunted." He went quiet for a moment, reflecting on Danielle's attitude. "She panics easily, and I don't blame her. I've seen the scars on her back. If someone did that to me, I don't think I'd ever go near anyone again. But it's more than that. Emotionally she's scarred. And the emotional scarring is worse than the physical scars. They won't fade as quickly. It's the memories that haunt you. I should know." His siblings looked at him, surprised by this speech. As a general rule he didn't say all that much. He was friendly, but quiet. And he hardly ever revealed anything personal.

"We'll go and talk to her tomorrow. In the mean time, go and make yourself look presentable. Now!" Susan ordered him out of the room. "Go with him Peter, and make sure he dresses properly. The Calormene ambassadors are arriving today, remember? You can sort yourself out while you're at it. I'm not having you meeting and greeting dressed like that. Go on. Move" She drowned their protests and chivvied them out of the room. Edmund groaned, remembering the real reason he'd gone out in the first place. Now he'd have to sit through one of their State Dinners and be sociable all evening. Sharing a resigned glance with Peter, the two boys headed off to change.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this etc. I will let you know if I ever do.**

**Author's note: If anyone is wondering about Dannie's apparent change of character, well international diplomacy can do that to people. Besides, this story is writing itself so I have very little control over what happens. Once I am back in her POV, I will try and explain further. **

Dannie decided it was about time she got used to waking up in places she didn't recognise. She managed to remain calm, mostly due to the fact that there was no-one around. It took her a couple of minutes to work out where she was. As soon as she remembered, the pain came back to her, and, not for the first time, she cursed her immunity to her healing gift. She sat up and looked around her. The infirmary at Cair Paravel was glisteningly white, and incredibly clean. She blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Then she felt an unfamiliar mind approach the door, and she jumped out of the bed she'd been put in, tense and ready to flee. The door opened and a girl about her age, maybe slightly younger entered.

"Oh good, you're awake. You've been asleep for hours. It's morning already! Now I can sort your shoulder out. I would have done it earlier, but Edmund said that he'd rather not have to chase after you again when you woke up and panicked because someone you didn't know was around. He also said your reaction to being near new people was painful, and that he'll have the bruise for a while. Can I congratulate you on flooring my brother by the way. No-one's done that in about four years." Dannie blinked. The girl had said all of this in one breath, and had now produced a strange red cordial from a pouch at her hip.

"Umm, who are you? And what exactly is that?" Dannie asked, slightly confused. The girl was obviously royalty, the crown gave that away. Was she a queen? A princess? And how could it be morning?

"Oh, right, yes. I forgot about that. I'm Queen Lucy the Valiant, and you don't need to hear the rest of it. They're fond of titles in Narnia. I imagine you heard Ed's? But then, maybe not, he likes titles as much as I do. Anyway, you can call me Lucy. You're Lady Danielle right?" Dannie raised her eyebrows. Lady? She didn't think that was right. Then she remembered that she'd been ennobled after healing Edmund's shoulder.

"It's just Danielle actually, though if you don't mind I prefer Dannie. I associate people calling me Danielle with trouble. Your Majesty." She added as an afterthought. She guessed Lucy would take this to mean that she was only called Danielle when she was in trouble, and not see the real meaning. The people who called her Danielle were the ones who got her into trouble. So she distinguished between active and possible threats by what they called her. If she was Dannie, she had more time to run.

"Alright, Dannie then. And, please, don't call me 'Your Majesty.' It makes me feel old and stuffy. I only have to suffer titles on State occasions, like when I turned sixteen. That was awful. I had to be given a proper title because I was coming of age. As if 'the Valiant' wasn't enough. Anyway I'm rambling, you're in pain, and we can sort all this out when you're healed. Yes?" Dannie nodded in agreement. She didn't know why, but it was easier to like people in Narnia. Which meant she was going to have to get out soon because she couldn't risk that. Liking people led to trust, and all trust did was get you hurt. She could feel excitement and enthusiasm in Lucy's emotions. At the same time there was a slight nervous feeling. Dannie was surprised. This Lucy was worried that she, Dannie, might not like her. No-one had cared about her opinion before. Despite herself, she started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have to run anymore. For the first time in her life, she felt safe.

"Drink this." Lucy ordered. "Don't worry, it's only my healing cordial. It's useful, but nothing compared to what you can do. You're amazing. You can heal, and you can floor my brother. You've given me something to annoy him with for the rest of his life."

Dannie smiled at her and did as she was told. The moment the cordial touched her lips, she felt better, better than she had in a long time, mentally as well as physically. She craned her neck to look at her back. As far as she could see, the scars had faded. They were still there, but they all looked old now. She stared at Lucy.

"Thank you. You're all so kind here. I wish I could stay, but…"

"Of course you're staying! Why wouldn't you be?" Lucy seemed quite indignant at the thought of her leaving.

"If I stay I'll get hurt. That's what always happens. Or if not me, someone else. He'll come looking for me, you see. Then everyone here will suffer. I have no choice but to go." She could see her own expression reflected in Lucy's eyes. She looked desperate.

"Don't be ridiculous. You aren't going anywhere. No-one in Narnia will hurt you while you stay with us. We're their monarchs. As our friend, they will all protect you. And no-one you don't want will be able to get anywhere near you here. I'd like to see a stranger get passed the guards, and even if they did that, Edmund said you can fight, and they'd still have Ed and Pete to contend with. And me and Su," she added as an afterthought. Dannie was now thoroughly confused. How could a brother and sister be monarchs of one country?

"Tell me Lucy, how does your country work? You say you are the Queen, and yet your brother, not your husband is King, and who are Pete and Su?"

"It's confusing. There are four of us, all siblings. Peter is High King, as he is the eldest. High King Peter the Magnificent. Like I said, we're fond of titles in Narnia. Peter's annoying but a really nice older brother. People are scared of him but I can get him to do pretty much anything. Including shut up, which believe me is an achievement. Then there's Susan. She's next eldest. She's Queen Susan the Gentle. She's the pretty one. Not High Queen though. I was confused about that. We have a High King, but no High Queen? I don't know. Anyway. Then there's Edmund. He's the clever one. And the best fighter. He's irritating. Peter's the better warrior but Ed's the better fighter apparently. I miss the distinction, but I'm told that its got something to do about how much they enjoy fighting. Anyway, he's King Edmund the Just. I'm the youngest. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. I'm Queen Lucy the Valiant, which I think I said earlier. The most common description I get: sweet. I hate being called sweet. Anyway, that's about all you need to know about us. But I could tell you how we came to Narnia if you like?" Dannie nodded. She liked Queen Lucy, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Maybe she would be able to stay after all. After so long it would make a nice change. But she couldn't let herself think like that. She'd only get her hopes up.

"Well, it's a long story," Lucy started, "but it all began with a war, and a wardrobe…" Dannie listened, completely enthralled. Lucy was a natural story teller, and she had Dannie hooked until the very end. She was so caught up in the tale, she didn't notice the entry of three other people until they were stood around her and Lucy listening. She darted to her feet, and then recognised Edmund.

"Sit," he ordered her. "You've just recovered from a bad shoulder wound. You're not going anywhere yet."

"Says the boy who wouldn't sit down even after he'd been stabbed in the side. Before he'd been healed," said the startlingly pretty girl stood next to him, rolling her eyes. Dannie guessed that this was Queen Susan.

"You mustn't mind him," she continued, "He worries too much. I'm Su by the way."

"You're not wrong there Su. He's like an old woman when it comes to worrying. She's had some of Lucy's cordial Ed. She should be fine. I'm Peter. I've got the unfortunate job of being in charge of this rabble." He smiled affectionately at his younger siblings. Lucy stuck her tongue out at him, Edmund hit him, and Susan laughed.

"You must think we're terribly impolite Dannie," said Lucy. "Here we are, stood laughing, when you must be starving. Come on, it's breakfast time." Ignoring Dannie's protestations that she wasn't hungry, she dragged her out of the infirmary chattering away. Yes, Dannie decided. She liked Lucy.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Edmund rolled his eyes at his sister. Oh well, he decided. It would do Danielle good to have a friend. He walked with the rest of his siblings back to the ante-chamber to have breakfast.

"You said she was pretty, but you didn't say how pretty." Susan exclaimed. "She's stunning." It was true, thought Edmund. Danielle was not just pretty, but striking. Tall, slim with mid-length dark hair, with a hint of red, and stormy grey-green eyes, set against a clear tanned complexion, she could catch anyone's eyes. He was so absorbed that he almost didn't hear what Susan said next.

"…Calormene Ambassador will be beside himself" Edmund snapped his head up at these words and swore. The Calormene Ambassador had spent most of the previous evening flirting with his sisters. He had only really been held in check by their royal status. Danielle, however, didn't have that protection.

"We need to hurry. I've seen Danielle with new people remember. Unless you want the Ambassador thrown across the room, which I admit, would be hilarious, I don't think we should allow him to get into a situation where she might begin to see him as a threat. Raise your eyebrows at me if you like Peter, but Danielle is a little less relaxed than our sisters, and any attempt at flirting, or anything like that would probably freak her out more than she could cope with."

Peter and Susan looked at each other and bit their lips, their desire to see the annoying Calormene thrown across the room fighting with their knowledge of diplomacy. Eventually, diplomacy won out, and they hurried to the breakfast room, just in time for Susan to distract the Ambassador with enquiries as to how he slept and had he recovered from his journey. Due to her importance as his host, he was sufficiently distracted from Danielle, and Edmund went over to check she was alright. She was relatively calm he was pleased to see. He was surprised to see that the exact opposite could be said about his younger sister. Lucy was seething.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, bewildered. Danielle began to answer but Lucy interrupted her.

"I'll tell you what's wrong. Him. That stupid man could barely restrain himself enough to talk to me. God knows what he would have done if you hadn't arrived when you did." Edmund felt a flash of anger which must have shown in his eyes because Danielle said:

"It's alright, he didn't insult me. Almost, but you can't accost someone for something he didn't do." He could see in her eyes that she was trying hard not to panic, and decided it would probably be better to make light of the situation. He could get back at the Ambassador later, maybe in a sparring match. Hmm, that could work. He wouldn't get into trouble for "accidentally" injuring the man in a practice fight. It was sort of expected.

"Don't even think about it. And yes, before you ask I can guess what you're planning. No revenge, chivalry or whatever other reason you might come up with." So much for making light of the situation. He'd forgotten she could read emotions.

"So how come when I try and help you, you throw me into a bush, try to knock me off my horse and nearly bite through my hand, yet when he almost insults you, you don't do anything. I'm offended. You obviously like him more than me my lady." Edmund whispered, teasing her. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and she looked nervous briefly, but responded in kind.

"Well, my lord, I was conscious when he appeared, so had a bit more warning. Also, Lucy had told me what he was like so I was expecting it. Plus, international diplomacy didn't rest on whether or not I threw you around, but with him, well, as I am sort of your guest at the moment, he might blame you," she pointed out. He grinned at her glad she appeared to be relaxing. She still didn't trust them, that much was obvious from the way her eyes darted around the room, mapping escape routes, and the way she flinched slightly whenever anyone approached. But at least she wasn't running.

"I guess we'd better introduce you to our esteemed guest then. Oh, and you've just been promoted to "Lady Danielle of Tenara Mount." Don't ask me where that is because I just made it up. Hopefully he won't realise that. Anyway, you're safer from him the higher your status. If he thinks you aren't one of the nobility, well, he may be less polite. The others will pick it up fairly quickly don't worry, they won't give you away." He offered her his arm, and after hesitating for a moment she took it, realising it would be strange if she didn't. They walked over to the Ambassador.

"Ah, Isrelda Tarkhaan, may I present the Lady Danielle Lepton of Tenara Mount? She is our guest for the moment."

"My lady, it is an honour," said the Ambassador, his manner immediately becoming more polite. He bowed to her, and she curtsied back. Edmund raised an eyebrow. Wherever she came from, they obviously taught curtseying. That was as elegant as his sisters.

"My lord Tarkhaan, greetings. I hope you found your journey pleasant?" He raised his other eyebrow. She could do formality as well. And she didn't appear to be panicking. Yet. He glanced at his siblings, who nodded at him, realising what he had done, and approving.

"Yes thank you, exceedingly pleasant. And allow me to say that my visit as been made even more pleasant by meeting you." Edmund restrained with difficulty from gagging. The compliments were getting worse. He looked at Danielle and could see the cornered look was back in her eyes. However, she remained calm. International diplomacy had its uses. He could have done with knowing that earlier. He might have saved himself a few bruises.

"You may my lord, and thank you. Please accept my apologies for not being at your welcome last night. I had only recently arrived myself, and was tired, due to a narrow miss with some bandits. It was meant as no insult, but you must appreciate that as a man, you are better able to cope with the hardships of the road, and would not expect a mere girl to be able to say the same" Edmund nearly fell over at this point. Finding anyone tougher than Danielle would be an achievement he reckoned, seeing how she'd kept up that healing thing despite a bad shoulder wound, after a battle and being dragged into a world she didn't recognise. Mere girl indeed. He decided it was about time he interrupted the proceedings before he gave something away.

"My lady, Ambassador, I do believe my royal siblings are waiting for us. It would not do for us to delay their morning plans. Besides, I have promised to show you the palace my lady, and the grounds, which may take some time, so we had better head on." They headed over to where the others were seated waiting for them, and sat down, Edmund making sure Danielle was kept well out of reach of the Ambassador.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Believe me, you'll know about it if I ever do.**

**Authors note: You know when I said that my whole character/power/fantasy thing wouldn't get more extreme? I may possibly have lied. Sorry. But then, if you don't like fantasy, why are you reading Narnia. Anyway, don't say I din't warn you. Also, for those of you who think that this chapter doesn't exactly make an awful lot of sense, I apologise. It will improve, but I am slightly stressed currently.**

Dannie looked up as she sensed Edmund enter the library. She'd been at Cair Paravel for three days now, and was beginning to feel at home, albeit reluctantly. Edmund came to sit in the chair next to hers and looked at the book she was reading. It was called 'Before The Golden Age' and told of the time before the Pevensies had come to Narnia.

"That looks depressing," Edmund commented, counting up how many times he could see the words cold and death on just the one page. He lost count halfway down.

"It is," Dannie replied, "but it's interesting at the same time. People keep telling me you saved Narnia, but no-one will tell me what from. So I decided to read up. Sounds like you did a lot of good when you came here."

"The others did. As for me, well, it would probably have been better if I'd stayed home. All I did was cause trouble." His expression went dark and his eyes shadowed.

"Oh," Dannie gasped.

"What?" Edmund snapped, glaring at her.

"That's why you're hurting. No-one hurt you. You're angry at yourself. You don't need to be. You have more than paid back the harm you think you caused. For without you, the witches magic wouldn't have been broken. It was you who broke her wand after all." She looked at him, head on one side, trying to work out what she could say to help him.

"If you're trying to make me feel better don't bother," Edmund muttered. "It's about time people accepted that I have to be allowed to take responsibility for my actions. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. The nightmares have stopped."

"Don't you know that it's a waste of time lying to an Empath? I sense emotions. That includes lying. And I know you're still getting nightmares, because you woke me up last night!" She looked at him sympathetically. She knew what guilt was like. Ever since she'd killed that man… It had been an accident but still, the memory was not one she enjoyed.

*** _She started back as he came towards her. "Leave me alone" she said. He was evil, she could feel it. And he enjoyed hurting people, liked feeling their pain. He carried on coming at her. She was scared. She knew what he wanted to do. However, she wouldn't back down. She straightened her back, and looked him in the eyes. She felt her eye's reflect all the pain that he had caused, just so he could see it. Then he stopped. He tried to look away, but he couldn't, her stare held him in place. Then he screamed. She could feel the power of her own gaze. All the pain he had ever caused anyone was being forced into his head. All by her. Her final defence. No-one could live through that kind of pain. She held his gaze until he collapsed and the light left his eyes. Only then did she look away realising what she had done. Through her ability to sense emotions, she had made him experience all the grief, anger, pain and fear he had inflicted on hi many victims. All at once. It had been to much for him. Her final defence. The ability to kill someone by looking them in the eyes. ***_

"Dannie, are you alright?" she felt Edmund's concern for her, due to her lack of response. She avoided his gaze on reflex, something she'd made a habit of since that last time.

"I'm fine" she said. "Just a memory." She smiled at the young King who had become her friend, despite her original reluctance to like him. He was friendly and patient, and didn't seem to mind that she didn't entirely trust him. He accepted that he'd have to earn that, not that she planned on letting him. She'd leave soon, and they could all go back to normal. She opened her mouth to explain this to Edmund.

"I have to…" She got mo further before he interrupted her.

"I thought we'd reach this point soon. You aren't going anywhere. I know you're scared, but no-one will hurt you here. I… I mean we won't let them." His voice was confident and relaxed, and it made Dannie want to hit him.

"It isn't that simple. While I'm here you're all in danger. He'll catch up with me one day. Then everyone will suffer. In the years since you left Earth things have changed. Instead of using science and such to help people it has become just another way to hurt. The most important scientists are those thinking up new, more effective ways to kill people. If He ever found me, well, He could wipe out the whole of Narnia in one go. I have to leave. It's the only way. Anyway, if I stay I'll only end up getting hurt. That's what always happens, and I don't think I'm strong enough to cope with another betrayal."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"…and I don't think I'm strong enough to cope with another betrayal." Edmund looked at Danielle when she said this and was shocked by the expression on her face. It was so full of pain, but at the same time tempered with a resignation that made him wonder what she had gone through that could make her say something like that so matter-of-factly. He also wondered if he should hit her, because she was being ridiculous. No-one in Narnia would hurt her.

"Danielle, no-one here will hurt you. And is it really likely that the person you're frightened of will find you in another world?. Please stay. My family would like it if you did. And, so would I." He said that last phrase under his breath, so she almost didn't hear him. She looked up at him and shrugged.

"You underestimate Him. And you say that no-one would hurt me, well, a lot of people have told me that. It lasted until they found out what I was. Then I was a monster, and I deserved what I got." She looked away from him and he lost it. Completely. He was angrier than he had ever been before.

"How dare you say that?" He hissed at her as she looked at him in confusion. "You sit there, telling me I'm not to blame for betraying my whole family through greed and then tell me you're the monster? What are you on?" He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. She tried to pull away from him, and he could see her panic instincts kicking in, but he still held her in place. He wanted to know what she meant. She was avoiding his gaze, a trait he'd discovered in her that really annoyed him. He glared at her, and then backed down slightly when she seemed to fade, eyes shutting tiredly.

"I'm a murderer. Not on purpose, but I am. I killed someone once. I suppose you could say it was self defence, but I have never been able to forgive myself." She looked at him, a desperate plea to be understood in her eyes.

"Tell me what happened." He said gently, recognising that she needed to talk. He let go of her, and returned to his previous position sat in the chair next to her. He listened as she told him what had happened, why she had killed the person she had. Then he looked at he and rolled his eyes.

"Personally, I still think you're being ridiculous. I think anyone in that situation would have killed him. I know I would have. But, if he's dead, how come you're worried about him finding you?"

"Different 'him.' The one I killed was a helper to the one who will look for me." Edmund looked at her.

"Look me in the eyes." He said.

"What?" Danielle asked.

"I said, look me in the eyes," and tilting her chin up he held her gaze and gasped as the pain hit him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia etc. If I ever do you will be the first to know.**

**Author's Note: I think this is an improvement on the last chapter which it has to be said wasn't brilliant. However, I must apologise in advance for the slightly dodgy poetry at the end of this chapter. My only defence can be that I wrote it at 10 o'clock at night or else I wouldn't have been able to sleep. So just cut me some slack on that. Poetry isn't my strong point to say the least!**

Dannie yanked her gaze away from Edmund's and then slapped him round the face. Hard. He blinked at her and rubbed his cheek.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asked, though she could tell by his emotions that he knew exactly why she had hit him. She glared at him, angrier than she had ever been before.

"You idiot!" She hissed, seething. "What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have really hurt yourself doing that. The last person who looked me in the eyes _died_ remember? Okay, so you would have survived it, you aren't evil, but I know what you are feeling, and frankly, you don't need to add to your own guilt by finding out what the people around you thought about it. And don't try telling me that it didn't bother you because I know it does. I can feel it remember?" She added as he tried to interrupt her, pre-empting what he was going to say.

"Okay, so it bothered me. Lots of things do." Edmund replied, shocked by how angry she was. "But I needed to know how it felt, so that I was prepared for it if I ever caught your gaze by accident. And I'm somewhat nosy." He added as an afterthought. Dannie wondered if she should hit him again. Somewhat nosy? Agh, she knew what he was feeling after that and knew that it would come back to haunt him at some point, but he didn't seem to care. He was also trying to hide something from her. Another reason.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Her voice was icy, and left no doubt in Edmund's mind that he wasn't going to get away with lying to her.

"Fine… I'll tell you. But don't, well, don't overreact okay?" She narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Well, umm… I was trying to prove a point, that point being that you shouldn't feel guilty as you don't want to hurt people it's sort of an accident…" he trailed **under her glare.**

"And exactly how was that going to help you prove your point?" She asked, her tone biting. Edmund looked at her completely sincere.

"You stopped." He answered her. "You didn't just let me suffer and then you nearly killed me for putting myself at risk in the first place. You're no monster Dannie. It was an accident and you can't go on feeling guilty about it for the rest of your life." She looked at the floor and then had an idea. She looked back up at Edmund and half smiled.

"Okay, I'll cut a deal with you. I'll stop feeling guilty if you do. Agreed?" She looked at him and raised her eyebrows, giving him the look that clearly said: You are wasting your time trying to argue with me on this one. He nodded at her.

"Deal. This should be interesting." Dannie heard a bell chiming outside and realised the time.

"Aren't we supposed to be seeing off the Calormene Ambassador?" Edmund cursed.

"That's why I was looking for you. Susan says it's full formal regalia and you have to wear a dress. Yes I know you don't like it, but there we go. I don't like having to dress up either. Now hurry!"

"Easy for you to say, you don't have skirts and corsets to get into." Dannie sighed running out the room. She flew back to her room in record time, and changed out of the more comfortable leggings and tunic that she'd adopted since arriving in Narnia on the grounds that they were more comfortable and less restrictive than a dress. She grabbed the first gown that came to hand out of her wardrobe and struggled into it, yanked a comb through her hair and ran back outside, in time to catch her breath before the arrival of the monarchs and the Ambassador.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Edmund walked into the courtyard with Lucy on his arm and scanned the area for Danielle. He couldn't see her, only a stunning young woman in a green dress, with neatly combed hair. He looked at her again and then realise with a jolt that this was in fact Dannie. He hadn't seen her in a dress before and had to stop his mouth falling open in surprise. Just then Lucy tugged on his arm and he leaned down slightly as she whispered:

"Where in Aslan's name is Dannie? She should be here by now. And who's that girl? Why's she stood there?" Edmund snorted.

"That, believe it or not, _is _Dannie. Brushes up nicely doesn't she. I can't believe she actually obeyed instructions and put a dress on."

"She knows what's good for her," Lucy replied, smiling. "She doesn't want to cross Susan. Right, serious faces and dignity. Here come the speeches." Edmund regained his composure with difficulty. He and Lucy were trying not to laugh at her last comment, and at the Ambassador's face as he reached Danielle. He looked like he was seeing the Sun for the first time. They walked down towards them in time to hear the Ambassador say:

"Lady Danielle, may I say that I truly believe that I have never seen true beauty until I looked upon you just now." Edmund caught Peter's eye and the two of them had to look away to stop themselves from laughing. Susan glared at them, but then caught Lucy's eye and set the two of them off. Edmund made gagging noises at Dannie behind the Ambassador's back, but by the time Isrelda Tarkhaan had turned round to see what was making Dannie laugh, all the siblings had regained their royal composure and everything had returned to normal.

"I do apologise for my unseemly giggling fit Ambassador. I saw a squirrel fall out of a tree and found the scenario rather amusing. I thank you for your compliment, and wish you all due fortune for your return journey to Calormene and your future there." She curtsied and Edmund found himself watching her, as if seeing her for the first time. Knowing what he now knew about her, having an idea of what he had just put her through he couldn't help admiring her. Also, the dress she was wearing was very flattering and it caused him to see her in a whole new light. He looked up and realised that it was his turn to make a speech at the Ambassador. Wonderful. When it was over Isrelda Tarkhaan left on his ship and all four monarchs heaved a sigh of relief. Finally they could return to their daily lives, and relax, with no thoughts of war or international diplomacy to bother them. Or so they thought.

Ed walked over to Dannie and offered her his arm. She took it, but before they could walk much further a bloodcurdling shriek tore through the air. As they turned to where the noise had come from, Edmund grabbed Dannie and pushed her behind him before looking for his siblings. Peter, Susan and Lucy quickly joined them and the boys stood in front of the girls, facing the place that the shriek had come from. Edmund drew his sword, and Peter did the same. Behind him he heard Susan and Lucy draw their daggers and Dannie grab the blades on the inside of her wrists before stepping next to him, shielding Lucy and Susan still further. He rolled his eyes but didn't bother trying to argue. She was much too stubborn and anyway, she was quite capable of taking care of herself. Dress or no dress. He heard footsteps approaching them from the direction of the scream and glanced at Dannie to see if she'd picked anything up. He watched her tense then relax slightly and he lowered his guard a little.

"It is a friend who approaches, but they bring grave news." She said. Edmund glanced at Peter and they both lowered their swords. They stood there and watched as a lone faun entered the courtyard in which they stood.

"Your majesties," she gasped as she reached them. "Your majesties, it is the gryffin. He has Seen. That was why he cried. He has said he saw the River Rush running red with blood and the whole of Narnia torn apart by war. A war between its own people. He said he heard a voice. The voice said: '_For six moons more happiness shall reign, and Narnia will seem strong again. But when fights begin, caused by treachery and lies, find the girl who holds death in her eyes. She holds the key to the peace that was lost, but her victory will not be without a cost. A single choice will save or raze, when Narnia depends on the Hunter's gaze.' _Then he said the vision ended with a figure of a girl, one who is not entirely human, and a light was around her. He says he thinks she was dead but he isn't sure. He then said he heard Aslan's voice: _'You will prevail only if she is prepared to sacrifice all. But when she seems lost remember; what is not born cannot die.' _With these words, the gryffin fell to the ground. He lives, but he is exhausted. I came to tell your majesties of this, and to beg for a drop of Queen Lucy's cordial for the gryffin." The faun trailed off nervously looking at the stunned monarchs.

"I'll go instead Lucy, don't run and get your cordial, it would take too long. I'll be much quicker. In the mean time you can give some thought to this. Oh, and Edmund," Dannie said, turning to him with a thoughtful expression, "I believe you and I know the answer to part of this riddle already. You may want to explain this to your siblings." With that she turned to follow the faun to the gryffin the look in her eyes slightly sad, as if she knew something they did not. Edmund watched her go puzzled by her last comment. Then it hit him. '_The girl who holds death in her eyes.' _It was Danielle. That's what she wanted him to tell the others. He turned to them.

"This will take some explaining. Let's go inside and I'll tell you everything in there." He motioned for them to go ahead of him, and with one last look after Danielle he followed them, his heart aching for the girl who had already suffered so much, and now looked set to go through more.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclamer: Still own nothing...**

**Author's Note: Okay, so this was meant to be a short chapter to fill you in a bit on Dannie's past, and give me time to sort my plot ideas out. Tha didn't work.**

One Month Later…

Dannie was watching the council with an attentive expression. The creature speaking now- an irate beaver- was a member of the Narnian National Party. Frankly she couldn't understand why Edmund, Lucy, Susan and Peter put up with this party. They were extremists. Some of what the beaver was saying was fairly close to treason. She decided to interrupt before he spontaneously combusted due to his extreme fervour.

"Excuse me for interrupting Mr. Darkin," she asked the beaver politely. He glared at her, which didn't really surprise her, seeing as his whole speech had been about how Narnia was for the Narnians and everyone else should be made to leave. As she wasn't a Narnian, this would obviously apply to her. However, he nodded stiffly and she carried on.

"Your majesties, if I may?" She turned to the four monarchs and rolled her eyes at Edmund and Lucy who were trying hard to suppress smirks as they did every time she referred to them as 'Your majesty.' For some reason, it seemed to amuse them greatly.

"Mr. Darkin, I have listened to your speech with great interest, and please do not think I see your beliefs with anything other than the greatest respect." She had persuaded Susan to give her diplomacy lessons, so she didn't offend anybody too greatly. Or too obviously. Now seemed to be a good time to put them into practice.

"However," she continued. "I cannot help that feel that your beliefs stray dangerously close to treason." The whole room tensed. She could feel the sudden alertness of all of the council members and the monarchs and their guards. Accusing someone of treason was very dangerous.

"Are you accusing me of entertaining treasonous thoughts?" Mr. Darkin hissed, apparently surprised, but she could sense the realisation that he might have been foiled underneath his outward innocence. Entertaining treasonous thoughts was exactly what he was doing, but it would not do to actually say this.

"Not at all sir, and I beg you pardon that my words may have inferred that I thought this. I merely wished to warn you that some may see you words in this way. While I am sure that all present in this council room saw the true meaning behind your words, others may take it to mean that you wish our monarchs to leave, seeing as they are not natively Narnian. I, and all present here know that this is not at all what you meant, but you must see that if our Kings and Queens were to pass a decree saying that all those not natively Narnian must leave Narnia, then, by their own law, they too must leave? Taking this into account, I am sure that you will look for a better way for your beliefs to be expressed." She smiled politely and nodded at the beaver to continue. He promptly did so, but for the rest of his hour long speech she could feel him burning for revenge on her for exposing his scheme. She would have to look out for herself now.

Finally the council session ended, and she joined the four monarchs as the wandered into the ante-chamber that was their private retreat from the world. Dannie smiled at them all and went to sit beside Lucy who had collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh of relief. Edmund and Peter followed suit on the opposite sofa, and Susan sat down gracefully in the armchair, maintaining her decorum for a few seconds longer than the rest of them. Mind you it didn't take her long to drop that as one of her siblings started being rude about one of the councillors and she laughed along after throwing a cushion at the offending party. They sat there giggling for a while about how ridiculous some of the councillors had looked, all puffed up with their own self-importance. Dannie watched them for a while. Despite her reluctance to trust them, they seemed to have wormed their way into her life anyway. Over the past month Susan had become her best friend and confidante, Lucy was like the little sister she had never had, despite the fact there was only about a year between them, Dannie felt centuries older than the still innocent Valiant Queen, Peter was like her older brother and Edmund was her friend/sparring partner/confidante/protector (in his eyes at least)/something else but she wasn't quite sure what yet. She felt safest around him, and he knew better than all of them that there were always going to be things she didn't tell them. She still hadn't trusted them with the secret of her past, and didn't know if she ever could. A part of her that she hadn't even known existed before she came to Narnia relished in her new found friendship, but the more cynical part of her, the part that had lived through her past was still looking for a way out of this. She was still worried that this happiness would turn on her. Like it always had before. However, she had promised to stay until the trouble prophesised by the gryffin had been resolved. She had to stay, she was the only one said to be able to halt the problem. She remembered the meeting that she had had with the monarchs after they had heard the prophecy.

_*** She walked into the ante-chamber after healing the gryffin. The siblings turned to look at her. She raised her eyebrows at Edmund who answered her unspoken question with: "I've told them everything you told me." _

"_Good." She'd replied. "Now you know what I am, and what I did." As she said this she looked down, then up again when Susan came and gathered her into a hug. Lucy followed suit, and Dannie had felt something she had never felt before. That she belonged. The girls led her over to the sofa, and sat down, one on either side of her._

"_You didn't do anything wrong," Susan told her. "If it had been me in your place, I'd have killed him deliberately, no questions asked. You shouldn't feel guilty, by the sound of things he deserved what he got." Despite herself, Dannie smiled at this, briefly allowing herself to be comforted by the two girls. _

"_But," Peter said, "how can we be sure that the prophecy really does mean Danielle? I men, it seems likely, going by the killing-with-a-look thing, but what did it mean by 'Hunter'? Could that be something different do you think?"_

"_It could, but I doubt it." Dannie replied. "Back where I came from they had a name for someone like me. They called me the Hunter. It was because I was trained to be an assassin. What beats someone who can heal a fallen comrade, sense if someone's coming near and know who they are and what they want almost instantly and who is genetically slightly stronger, quicker and cleverer than the person they are meant to be hunting down? The thing with me is that I am all of those things. I was trained to be stronger, quicker, cleverer than my opponents. I've been trained since I was a year old. The perfect assassin. The perfect hunter." Silence had met her words, as all of their worst fears were confirmed. If Dannie was the one of the prophecy, it mean that the prophecy was true and that Narnia was once more at risk ***_

Dannie snapped back into the present and brought the four monarchs back to more serious matters.

"That Mr. Darkin worries me. For all I may have said about my certainty that he merely needed to rephrase, I know for a fact that he meant every word he said. He wants you to leave, he wants anyone not genuinely Narnian to leave. He wants Narnia to be for the Narnians." She looked round at them all before doing her equivalent of catching Edmund's eye- looking at his eyebrow, and seeing in her peripheral vision that he was thinking exactly what she was thinking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Edmund saw what Dannie was getting at with her fears. She thought that the war that the prophecy foresaw was a civil war, wit people forced to choose between their monarchs and their friends. _'Treachery and lies.' _Did that mean that others felt the same way as Mr. Darkin and the Narnian National Party? He voiced his thoughts to his siblings, who listened attentively and then looked worried.

"Well, whatever the problem is, we've got five months to work things out according to the gryffin. So we'd better get thinking." Susan said in her organising voice. "However, I vote we put a hold on this until after tomorrow night. I'm not having my little brother's birthday being ruined by something we can't work out. Besides, if we start worrying too much you won't want to celebrate, and it's too late to cancel now. Anyway, talking of tomorrow night, Edmund you need to find someone to ask to go with you, and Dannie you need to come with me to sort out your dress. Lu, you'll come too won't you? I think we need some girl time don't you agree?" With that, she swept out of the room, leading Dannie and Lucy with her. Edmund could hear them chattering excitedly all the way down the corridor. Girls. He turned to Peter who was looking bewildered by the turn of events.

"Did Susan just manage to bring a party into a discussion about Narnia's future?" He asked. Edmund laughed.

"She certainly did, and judging by the sound of it, we aren't going to get any sense out of any of them for a while so I think we're going to have to do as Susan says. How she can think of parties at a time like this…" He caught Peter's eye.

"Girls." They both sighed.

"Seeing as everyone else is focused on your birthday, I think we should join them. Have you decided who to ask yet?" Edmund scowled.

"I don't see why I should have to ask anybody. Who is there for me to ask anyway? If I ask most of the girls around this castle they'll take it the wrong way and I could do without that."

Peter sighed at him.

"Ed, you may be one of the smartest people I know, but sometimes you are so stupid. The answer's staring you in the face. Ask Dannie. Problem solved. Then you have a partner, and she's kept safe from the hordes of men who will otherwise spend the whole night bugging her if she goes unaccompanied." He shook his head and walked out of the room leaving Edmund wondering why the hell he hadn't thought of that.

Edmund headed towards Dannie's room, hoping to find her there. Judging by the giggling he could hear coming from inside, he had been right to guess that this was where she'd be. Hopefully they'd finished the dress fitting by now. He'd given them a couple of hours, but you never knew with girls. Gathering his courage he knocked on the door.

"Come in" came the cheerful response. He stuck his head round the door and was relieved to see the room free of dresses and material.

"Excuse me, but could I borrow Dannie for a minute?" He rolled his eyes at the outbreak of exasperated sighs which greeted his words. However, Dannie agreed to talk to him.

"Umm, I'm not entirely sure how to ask this so please don't hit me." She raised an eyebrow at him and he continued. "I was wondering if you'd be my partner tomorrow night?" He looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction from her expression. He might as well try and get blood from a stone.

"Go on then." She answered smiling at him. "If only to keep you safe from the hordes of marauding girls that will pester you all night otherwise." With that she turned and walked back into her room, and he heard her telling Susan and Lucy what he'd wanted. He heard yet more giggles, and again wondered if it was ever possible to understand girls. He walked off to the training ground pleased with what he had achieved, but slightly nervous about the following night and partnering Dannie, though he did not yet know why.


End file.
